U Tin Moe (; ) (1933-2007) was a Burmese

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

Early life

Tin Moe (Maung Ba Gyan) was born in the village of Kanmyè in

Taungtha Township Taungtha Township is a township of Myingyan District in the Mandalay Region of Burma (Myanmar). Its principal town and administrative seat is Taungtha. The township covers an area of and as of 2014 it had a population of 216,399 people. History ...

Myingyan Myingyan (, ) is a city and district in the Mandalay Division of central Myanmar, previously, it was a district in the Meiktila Division of Upper Burma. It is currently the capital of Myingyan Township and lies along the National Highway 2. , th ...

Mandalay Division Mandalay Region ( my, မန္တလေးတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, ; formerly Mandalay Division) is an administrative division of Myanmar. It is located in the center of the country, bordering Sagaing Region and Magway Region to ...

. He received his early education at a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

monastery, and attended school at the town of Yezagyo. His reputation preceded him when he went on to study at the

University of Mandalay Mandalay University (also translated as University of Mandalay; my, မန္တလေးတက္ကသိုလ် ) is a public liberal arts and science university located in Mandalay, Myanmar and one of the sixteen autonomous universities un ...

at the request of faculty members who had been impressed by an essay he wrote for the matriculation exam. He was already a published poet under the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

''Kan Myè'' Nan Myint Nwe in the ''

Ludu Journal Ludu may refer to: People * Ludu Daw Amar (1915–2008), Burmese dissident writer and journalist * Ludu Sein Win (1940–2012), Burmese writer, journalist, and teacher * Ludu U Hla (1910–1982), Burmese journalist, publisher, chronicler, folklori ...

'' of Mandalay.

Fame

In 1956 Tin Moe collected his poems into a book titled ''Hpan Mee Ain'' ( en, The Lantern). It won him the National

Literary Award A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations Most literary awards come with a corresponding award ceremony. Ma ...

for Poetry in 1959. He continued to write poems and essays, and became editor of poetry at the '' Ludu Daily'' in Mandalay. He also worked for a time as the editor of ''Pei Hpu Hlwar'' magazine. His early poems were influenced by

Min Thu Wun Thiri Pyanchi Min Thu Wun ( my, မင်းသုဝဏ်; 10 February 1909 – 15 August 2004) was a Burmese poet, writer and scholar who helped launch a new age literary movement called Khit-San (Testing the Times) in Burma. He is the fath ...

and Zawgyi, who in their time pioneered a new age

literary movement Literary movements are a way to divide literature into categories of similar philosophical, topical, or aesthetic features, as opposed to divisions by genre or period. Like other categorizations, literary movements provide language for comparing ...

while still at

Rangoon University '') , mottoeng = There's no friend like wisdom. , established = , type = Public , rector = Dr. Tin Mg Tun , undergrad = 4194 , postgrad = 5748 , city = Kamayut 11041, Yangon , state = Yangon Regio ...

. They also inspired him to write poems for children. Some of these were later turned into songs for children and also included in school texts.

Politics

The political upheaval of 1988 in Burma was a turning point in Tin Moe's life. He responded to the criticism of the political content of his later poems such as ''Sobs'' and ''New Pages'' by referring to

Thakin Kodaw Hmaing Thakin Kodaw Hmaing ( my, သခင်ကိုယ်တော်မှိုင်း, ; 23 March 1876 – 23 July 1964) is considered one of the greatest Burmese poets, writers and political leaders in the 20th century history of Burma. ...

whose patriotic and satirical poetry spawned a powerful

anti-colonial Decolonization or decolonisation is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on independence m ...

while Burma was under

British rule The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

. He had dedicated one of his earliest poems to his great hero, titled ''To Grandpa Thakin Kodaw Hmaing''. An active supporter of the

pro-democracy Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a full ...

movement, Tin Moe was imprisoned in 1991 for four years by Burma's military government for his activities. His work was banned, and after his release he left for the West and moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

as an exile. He traveled through the U.S.,

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, and

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attending literary events. In 2004, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

honoured him with the

Prince Claus Award The Prince Claus Fund was established in 1996, named in honor of Prince Claus of the Netherlands. It receives an annual subsidy from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Fund has presented the international Prince Claus Awards annually si ...

. He died on January 22, 2007, in his home away from home in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, at the age of 73.

Notes

External links

Tin Moe's Works in Burmese
''MoeMaKa Media''
''Yindèga gabya''
''Poems from the Heart'' by Tin Moe, in Burmese, September 2000 to March 2006, ''New Era Journal''

The Power of Culture,

Prince Claus Fund The Prince Claus Fund was established in 1996, named in honor of Prince Claus of the Netherlands. It receives an annual subsidy from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Fund has presented the international Prince Claus Awards annually si ...

, 2004
Burmese Legendary Poet Tin Moe Dies

VOA News Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

, 24 January 2007
Poems by Tin Moe (1933 - 2007)

Prince Claus Awards The Prince Claus Fund was established in 1996, named in honor of Prince Claus of the Netherlands. It receives an annual subsidy from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Fund has presented the international Prince Claus Awards annually si ...

Brief biography

''The Shut Door'' - Poem by Tin Moe translated by Win Pe
''MoeMaKa'', January 15, 2009 {{Authority control 1933 births 2007 deaths Burmese emigrants to the United States Burmese writers Burmese male poets People from Mandalay Region Burmese exiles Burmese prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Myanmar Burmese democracy activists 20th-century Burmese poets 20th-century male writers Mandalay University alumni